Evil Robot Army Suffers Defeat

As a Timberwolves fan, I've gotten through this season by focusing my attention elsewhere. There's only so many times you can read about your team getting pantsed before it starts to wear on you. So, instead of soaking in contradictory statements like "We're rebuilding the team" and "We're not trading KG", I get good basketball where ever I can find it. One of the objects of my affection has been the Denver Nuggets. As I have said, I think the trade for Allen Iverson was a wonderful thing for both parties. The results didn't pay out immediately. Denver struggled at times to establish an identity and mesh as a unit. But, things came together at the right time, and the Nuggets hit a good rhythm to finish the year.

However, their match-up with the San Antonio Spurs in the first round had a lot of people talking about next year prematurely. I suppose you can't blame fans for assuming this would be a lopsided series. After all, the Spurs have been there. They're tough to beat, they defend well, and their stars play ugly yet effective basketball. Still, I picked the Nuggets. Why? Idealism, I guess. I don't want to believe that what San Antonio does is inevitable. I'd rather not accept that Manu Ginobli's flailing and flopping is the class of the NBA. I can't resign myself to thinking Bruce Bowen's constant karate chops to the head is beautiful basketball. The part of me that really loves the game wants to see A.I. and Melo still playing in June, not San Antonio's robot army.

So, today, I awake refreshed. For today, at least, idealism has won out. The Nuggets played good enough to win, and did it while having one of their least effective offensive games. Shockingly, they stayed in this one by playing merciless team defense for four quarters. And, when the Spurs made their runs, Denver did not panic. Iverson put them on his back in rough patches, heating up as the game went on. Carmelo had an incredible killer instinct and kept his temper despite the constant Bruce Bowen slaps to the face. Nene and Camby welcomed contact and made San Antonio look disorganized in the post, if not soft. It was an exciting game, and it only left me wanting more.

I don't assume this means the Nuggets have this locked up. The Spurs know what they're doing and will likely reach deep in their bag of dirty tricks for Game 2 and beyond. But, if anything, Denver has established they're not to be underestimated. Hopefully that means we'll be seeing them in the second round.

This is How We Ride...

Up until a couple weeks ago, Allen Iverson was in the same boat as Kevin Garnett. One of the best at his position, he'd been cursed with bad management. His playoff opportunities had been limited, and he had been given very few complementary teammates. But, a combination of factors had kept him with the team that drafted him. His marquee value and star power made him difficult to move, and he knew better than to publicly complain.

Something changed. Frustrated with his lack of opportunities, and over being openly shopped during the summer, Allen made known his desire to get out. The Sixers did not disappoint: they handled the situation poorly, taking over a week to hammer out a deal. But, yesterday, things worked out about as well as they could for Iverson. He was sent to Denver to play alongside Carmelo Anthony, already a prolific scorer, but with plenty of room for growth. For the first time in his career, AI will be paired with a genuine superstar. Just as important, he has a coach in George Karl whose fast-paced, high-powered offensive attack suits his style.

I have no qualms in stating that Allen Iverson (along with KG) is my favorite NBA player. His high energy and aggressive play is only rivalled by his pure passion and unfiltered personal behavior. He's suffered through an incredibly trying life, but has used his experiences to build his character. He drives fearlessly on men twice his size, falls down, and gets up every time. He's not afraid to admit he makes mistakes, but refuses to apologize for his background or his personality. I don't think we'll ever see another player quite like him. I also do not hesitate to say that demanding a trade in no way tarnishes his career. Billy King has given him nothing to work with. Then he paraded him around like a whore this summer, despite Iverson's long standing loyalty to Philadelphia. And no, I don't think getting Chris Webber qualifies as a quality teammate. I have written about this at length in the past, but I will summarize my issues with CDUBBZ with the following list:

#1. He's soft like a marshmallow: a chameleon who can stack numbers in meaningless situations, but who morphs into the bitchiest of bitches in the clutch.
#2. See #1.

I also firmly believe that Allen will be re-energized by his re-location to Denver. Having spent so much time in the shittiest of situations, he will truly appreciate the opportunity he's being given and take full advantage of it. I won't be so bold as to claim the Nuggets are now a lock for the playoffs, but I can say with absolute certainty that nobody in their right mind wants to see a motivated AI and Melo against their team. Hopefully Billy Hunter can get Anthony's idiotic suspension reduced; I'm eager to see the new-look Nuggets on the court as soon as possible. Nobody deserves this chance more than AI. I can't wait to see what happens.

Isiah Thomas is Bulletproof.

Keep your chin up, Zeke. John's proud of you!

Note: George Karl hit the nail on the head. I really hope someone decides this absurd situation is worth appealing

David Stern decided that he's on a roll from all the crappy decisions he's made lately, and handed out suspensions for the incident at MSG. The terms ranged from fifteen games to one, Carmelo Anthony receiving the worst of it. This isn't the part that I have a problem with. Melo ran up to a situation that was already bad, but settliing, and made it much worse by throwing a sucker punch. I might not have made it for so many games, but the message is clear: don't escalate things. That's not a bad point to get across.

The issue I have is the glaring omission from the list: Isiah Lord Thomas III. (I looked it up, that's really his name. Kind of awesome, don't you think?) It would stand to logic that someone in a leadership role who precipitated the conflict would be punished. Stern didn't seem to think so, saying that he only relied on "definitive information" when handing out punishment. Well, Isiah's caught on tape issuing warnings to players. And, he also followed that up with some absurdly smarmy post game comments on how Collins did the logical thing. So yeah, you're right David, not definitive at all. Good thing Stern doesn't run the NCAA or John Chaney would still have a job at Temple.

Some are going to say that the $500,000 fine levied at the Knicks and the Nuggets sends the message. I don't buy it. James Dolan and Isiah Thomas clearly have no concept of money. Hell, they're currently paying Jalen Rose millions not to play basketball for them. $500,000 is minor figures. I tried to convince himself that David Stern would be so incensed by this incident going down in his backyard that he'd drop the hammer. No such luck. Isiah Thomas continues to make New York into a bad joke, and everyone suffers but him.

Isiah Thomas is Unstoppably Incompetent

There's an old story. It's about an explorer and a rattlesnake. One day, the explorer is travelling through the wilderness, and he comes upon a rattlesnake trapped underneath a rock. The snake begs him to move the rock and set him free. The explorer knows better and tells the snake, well If I do that, you'll just bite me. But the snake promises that he won't. He tells him that he'll die otherwise. The explorer feels guilty, and moves the rock. As soon as the snake is set free, he bites him. At first the explorer is mad, but then he realizes that he's only mad at himself. The snake was just doing what was in his nature. Snakes bite people.

I feel like I just got bit. A few days ago I defended Isiah Thomas, talking about how if his boss wasn't willing to fire him, faulting him for his behavior was pointless. I went so far as to say that I was "through blaming him". After what he did at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, I am back to being actively angry at him. The Denver Nuggets were giving a heavy thrashing to the Knicks and it bothered Isiah. He felt like George Karl was running up the score. So, he (idiotically) warned Carmelo Anthony to stay out of the paint, and got caught on tape doing it. A couple plays later, JR Smith was on a breakaway, and so Knick Mardy Collins wrapped and tossed him to the ground. Tempers flared, and a fight broke out. Carmelo (stupidly) rushed in late and hit Collins in the jaw, escalating the situation further. Now Denver will be without the NBA's leading scorer for a while and we're back to the NBA being perceived as a league of thugs.

Isiah looked culpable enough already, but his post game comments drove home the role he played:

I just said to him, 'You're up 19 with a minute and a half to go. You and Camby really shouldn't be in the game right now.' We had surrendered. And those guys shouldn't have been in the game at that time. They were sticking it to us pretty good. They were having their way with us pretty good. I think J.R. Smith had just made one dunk where he reverses it and spins in the air. I thought that Mardy didn't want to have our home crowd see that again and he fouled him.

Well, Isiah, I think someone on the bench whose name starts with I and ends with siah Thomas told Mardy that he should stop the bleeding. You know what might have been better than orchestrating a play where someone could have ended up seriously hurt? NOT BEING A TERRIBLE COACH. If you don't like losing by large margins, then be angry at yourself for building a disaster of a roster. Work on your players to play better defense. You think George Karl is a poor sport for keeping his stars in? Understandable. But don't pretend putting a hit on the Nuggets is justifiable. Live with the fact that you suck.

Now, to dispel the perception that the NBA is the most gangsta of leagues, here is a video of strapping young lads engaged in sportsmanlike conduct: